Rachael Pearson & the Eels attack
The Parramatta Eels claimed their first win of the 2023 NRLW season against North Queensland last week with halfback Rachael Pearson heavily involved.
Pearson is one of the more experienced playmakers in the competition and her influence on the Eels attack has been obvious since making her club debut in NRLW Round 4.
She knows when and how to get to specific areas on the park before firing a shot and her general play kicking is up there with the best in the competition.
She didn’t do it all on her own last week, though.
Parramatta currently play with the worst attack in the NRLW, but as combinations develop they’re getting more out of their best players. This set in the leadup to Mahalia Murphy’s opening try highlights the positives of the Eels attack right now.
From a midfield scrum, Parramatta put Cassey Tohi-Hiku in a bit of space on the right edge:
Tohi-Hiku is an exciting prospect and we’ll be watching her for a long time in the NRLW. She uses her speed to beat her opposite number here before engaging Krystal Blackwell on the wing. Blackwell is not a natural winger and she bites on the ball to allow Kimberley Hunt free passage down the touchline.
Hunt chews up the extra metres before the Eels work back to the middle:
Madeline Jones (20) takes the first hit-up before Rueben Cherrington uses some nice deception to get Talesha O’Neill (8) in behind the markers.
With a bit of ruck speed generated, the Eels quickly hit their left edge through Murphy.
Pihuka Berryman-Duff does a good job isolating Murphy one-on-one with Tahlulah Tillett and the big backrower takes an extra 15 metres as a result:
With North Queensland retreating and filling up the short side with middle forwards, Abbi Church takes the right option to double up down the left edge but can’t find the final pass.
Still, the Cowboys are on the ropes and their right edge defensive unit is all over the place.
They’ve got a five-eighth on the wing, a fullback beside the ruck, a centre as the five-in defender and a backrower near the posts.
With so many new faces defending next to each other, Jasmine Peters (circled) and Bree Chester (11) get their spacing all wrong:
Chester is expecting a fifth tackle kick and flies out of the line at Pearson while Peters gets caught watching the ball. Hitting the line at speed, Murphy punishes those errors to crash over for the opening try.
I don’t think this was an eyes up play, either.
Parramatt’s right edge backrower Amelia Mafi scored a similar try in NRLW Round 5:
I’m going to hazard a guess that this is something Dean Widders has been working on during the week; organising shape out wide before hitting a forward short off the ruck to catch out over-chasing defenders.
With her forwards asking so many questions of North Queensland’s middle defence, the game slowly opened up for Pearson on the edges.
Two tries to debutant Kimberley Hunt came from the boot of Pearson as she caught out Blackwell defending in an unfamiliar position on the wing.
Her first was triggered by an offload in yardage a few tackles earlier, allowing Parramatta to pour into attacking field position around the posts:
Look how many Cowboys defenders are in the frame here when Mafi (11) plays the ball. North Queensland are compressed around the ball and that’s compounded when the Eels send two lead runners at the posts on the following tackle:
With time and space behind the lead runners to make the play, Pearson drops it on a dime outside Blackwell for Hunt to score her first. You can see how far infield Blackwell (circled) is when the kick comes – a result of Parramatta compressing the defence in the previous tackles.
And so Pearson went back to the well.
Some subtle ballplaying gets Mafi one-on-one with a defender here and the backrower wins the tackle to play the ball quickly:
Neither markers are in a position to get at Pearson on the following tackle, and Kirra Dibb can’t get off her line quickly enough to pressure the kick.
It’s a beauty.
Coming down just above the fingertips of Blackwell, Pearson again catches out the inexperienced winger to gift Hunt a double on debut.
This is how Pearson can influence an attack when her forwards are going forward.
With a bit of ruck speed and space to make the play, Pearson’s vision and ballplaying can consistently generate points in what is currently the worst attacking team in the NRLW.
Pearson needs the Eels to continue their improvements in yardage though if she’s to repeatedly influence the result, and Kennedy Cherrington’s return in NRLW Round 8 will help with exactly that.
Head Noise – What’s living rent free in my head this week?
Julia Robinson
The Brisbane Broncos are working their way into the 2023 NRLW regular season and welcomed back a veteran player last weekend.
Robinson has been with the Broncos since way back in 2018 and is one of the better wingers in the competition. She’s a good finisher and a sound defender, but it’s Robinson’s efforts in yardage that rank her so highly amoung wingers in the NRLW; the 160m Robinson clocked in her return last week is proof of this.
The Broncos employ Hayley Maddick at fullback and one of Ashleigh Werner or Lauren Dam on the other wing. None are noted ball carriers which can explain Brisbane currently ranking fourth-last in the NRLW for total kick return metres.
With Robinson back however, we can expect the Broncos to work a little more effectively out of their own end.
Georgia Hale Watch
2023 Running Tackle Tally
Tackles made: 284
Tackles missed: 2
It shouldn’t come as a surprise anymore.
Across six seasons in the NRLW, Hale has now made 865 tackles in her career and missed just 23; ridiculous numbers.
Grace Kemp
With a 187cm, 94kg frame and a full head of red hair, Grace Kemp become an insant cult hero at the Canberra Raiders to begin the year. There’s a bit of Corey Horsburgh about how Kemp plays her footy and when she crashed over in her second game for The Milk the tongues started wagging.
She won’t dot down every week though, so it’s important the Raiders find other ways to use Kemp effectively in games.
This action last week was promising:
A two pass shift from the right tram line gives Kemp time and space to wind up here. She makes a beeline for Ali Brigginshaw, palming off Romy Teitzel in the process before somehow getting an offload out the back to helping Canberra to a 10+ metre gain.
Kemp is averaging 91.3 running metres per game this season, playing most of those games in a limited role off the bench.
With her first starting jersey in NRLW Round 6 though, Kemp clocked 135 metres (47 post-contact) from 14 hit-ups. She’s a capable battering ram but can do a whole lot more with the ball if Canberra consistently pass her into areas like this.
NRLW Round 7 team-list notes
Zahara Temara was superb to begin this season and has notched seven forced drop-outs and three try assists from her first six games. She’s a clever and experienced playmaker who’s helped the Raiders to sit 4th on the NRLW ladder heading into Round 7.
Her defensive deficiencies are starting to show, though. Canberra have conceded 16 tries down their right edge – Temara’s side – to begin the year, with Temara often the target for attacking teams. She can still be a net-positive for the Raiders but needs to work closely with her backrower and centre if Canberra’s edge defence is to improve.
Brooke Talataina is named to make her NRLW debut at halfback for the Wests Tigers this weekend with Emily Curtain and Losana Lutu still sidelined. The Tigers are desperate for some continuity and control in the halves and this is a great opportunity for a young playmaker to stamp her claims.
Tara McGrath-West was one of my favourites in her maiden NRLW season last year. She’s had a slower start to the 2023 season but is named to start again this week after averaging 113.5 running metres over the last fortnight. She’s a powerful ball runner with a good engine and is a chance of crashing over this week against a Cowboys middle that is struggling to win the ruck.